Means for saving welding electrode material



March 21, 1944. c. J. HOLSLAG MEANS FOR SAVING WELDING ELECTRODE MATERIAL Filed May so,' 1942 L Y mm M m f E m 3A M m M Patented Mar. 21,

MEANS roa savmo wsnnmc ELECTRODE MATERIAL Claude'J. Holslag: 80!! Orange, N. 1., "ant. to Electric Arc, 111e,, Newark, N. J.

Application May 30, 1942, Serial No. 445,121

a This invention relates to means or a process are connected in the usual way to a source oi for eliminating the waste of electrode material welding current such as a transformer '1 having used inmanual metallic arc-welding. a primary winding P connected to a suitable Substantially all metallic arc-welding today is source of current, a main secondary]! and an done with covered or coated electrodes having 5 auxiliary secondary A which may have the wind-' a length of from fourteen to twenty inches, aling tapped to get the desired voltage for supplythough in the very early days oi metallic arcing current to the welding handle; The workwelding much longer electrodes were used to piece W'is connected to one terminal'of the some extent. In coating electrodes, one end is transformer T. It shouldbe understood that the leit bare for approximately inch or more coil or reel of is carried in such a to receive the welding handle that is connected 7 'positioniuto allow the wire to;be easily pulled to one side of the source 01 welding current, the 'lrom-thef coil" or reel ;by the operator through other side of'the source being connected to the the .mediumffo't the welding handle I, if some workpiece or parts being welded. During the au'xiiliarygdrive or feed mechanism is not used. welding operation the metallic electrode is used .Ihaveiioujndffrom past years of experience that up down to a point adjacent the portion that acur'vec is easier to manipulate than B srlpp d by the welding handle and this part, .;a straight-electrode which is all that the weldwhich cannot be introduced into the arc, is ing industry "has been used to, and the curve thrown aside and is usually thrown away entirely which the takes coming from the or goes intothe scrap pile where it may or may r reel'downjjto the work, a guided by the operanot be recovered. s tor; through 'thelmedium oi the welding handle,

At the present time, with the enormous prols more'aeasilysustainedjy the'operator. Preferduction going on in shipyards, tank shops and ably a-tsecond weldinghandle I, 18ml! so that thousands of fabricating plants, factories and re-" 'fthe operator m y, with hi free hand, apply one pair shops. thousands of tons or electrodesfare' ;1we1a1ne, linaba'ch or the one which is used to used daily and the loss 01 these electrode ends guide-tn electrode and sustain the arc while has become an important item in the conserve J the-arcisrunning sotha't there is no interruption of materials. While the loss of these stub: ""tion inthe' welding operation. Thus acontinuous ends of electrodes is enormous at the' 'fl'esent jmanual processor weldingis obtained. time, it has alwlys presented what seemed-to .30, ffPIn Figure. 2.1have shown the coil of wire I on be an unsolvable problem. .ajreel 2 that ismounted on a stand 0 and preier-.

It is therefore the principal object of my inably insulatedthereirom, the stand I being carvention disclose and claim herein a general ried by a small truck or carrier ll. The inner solution of the said problem, and this solution end of the" coil 1 ll electrically connected to the will be readily understood by reference to the 36 reel; onthrough a suitable connection, it or the annexed drawing, wherein: reel, or both are connectedtoone side of the Figure 1 illustrates, somewhat diagrammatitransformer-T, the other side or which is concally, one form in which the problem may be v nected to the work was in Figure I.

solved. Irfthis arrangement, the welding current passes ,Figure 2 illustrates other means of carrying my 49 through the wireci th'e coil and in some cases. invention into practice. depending on the size of the wire and the current Figure 3 illustrates a further modification. required, the may become too hot before In the drawing, i is an overhead track on which it reaches the welding position, and in order to is mounted a reel 2 having the necessary support 1 eliminate this diillc'ulty a cooling chamber II is members 3, only one of which is shown, carrying located just adjacent the welder. The chamber rollers I supported on the track I so that the H is carried on a small standor portable truck reel 2 may be moved along the track as required. I! through the medium'o! a support I! carrying The reel 2 carries a coil of wire, the free end I an adjustable arm ll to which is swiveled a supof which is adapted to be engaged by a welding port member ll carrying the cooling chamber ll. handle 0 having jaws with special means I for 50 In this arrangement the cooling chamber ll may piercing r utting through the coating on the be set at any angle and proper position whereby rod I so as to make electrical contact therewith. it may also g'uide the welding rod or wire I A slight rotary movement by the operator of the through a sleeve ll pr r y of strong h s welding tool enhances the contact-engaging abilheat-resisting and insulating material carried by ity of the said means I. The jaws of the handle the cooling chamber it. The operator has a welding tool or handle 8, the same as in 1. for directing and maintaining the are at the work. In this case, the welding rod or wire- 5 may be fed by a motor l1 having a suitable gear reduction I! integral therewith which is connected in any suitable manner as by a belt or chain It with the ree1 I.

The operation of the motor may be controlled by a foot switch at the welding operators posi tior'i, or by a switch such as on his welding ham die or tool 8. Since the welding rod or wire is being iedto the arc in a curvilinear path, the operator will have a certain amount of slack or take-up in the welding wire which will allow a certain amount of compensation for any overrun of the teed motor.

The carrier truck i2 may carry convolutions 2| 0! a suitable hose for carrying cooling fluid to the cooling chamber H. An outlet hose 22 may also be carried on the truck l2 so that if it is necessary to move the truck, one or more convoiutions of the two hose lines may be utilized to set the truck 12 wherever desired. Each oi the trucks Ill and I2 is preferably provided with a brake 23 to engage one or more Of the wheels 24 to lock the trucks in any set position. The brake 23 is operated by a lever 28 pivoted at II to some part oi the truck in. Pivotally connected to the lever 25 is a control rod 21 having a push button 28 for operating the rod 11. The rod 21 preferably carries a catch 29 which is adapted to engage a bracket 30 in a manner to hold the brake 23 in locked position.

In Figure" 3 the arrangement is somewhat as indicated in Figure 1. but the guide and support member tor use by the operator in handling the welding rod or wire 5 consists of a sleeve 3| preferably of strong insulating material which carries a guard plate 82. Mounted on one end of the sleeve II, in any satisfactory manner, is a metallic member :1 preferably clamped to the sleeve 3|. To the metallic member 33 is pivotally mounted a pair 0! grips I4 each having sharp engagement points 35 for piercing the 'iiux coating on the electrode 5. Springs 38- are used to force the grips into engagement with the electrode.

As the electrode is consumed by the arc, the operator merely loosens the grip by pressing inwardly on the members 34 to release the grip on the electrode, and the sleeve ll is then moved backward toward the coil or reel 2 to a new position, and the arc is restarted, and so on until the entire coil, which is made up of a large number of running ieet, has been used up, when a new coil of wire is put in position and one end thereof is welded to the end or the used-up coil, whereby no welding wire whatever is lost. In place oi the means for carrying the coil or reel 2 as shown in Figure 3, a portable stand 8, such shown in Figure 2, may be used. Likewise, the various details may be varied over a conrange; for example, instead of the our. connected to the coil 8 or the reel 1! as no desribed with respect to Figure 2, on he carried to the rod or Wire 5 by. a of mutor driven rolls which are ada te the flux coating on ti wire to convey curl-e thereto; or the wire may of the partially coate' type such shown in my Patent 1,528,8lii, issued March i 1325. If thefiux coating has current-carryln characteristics, then deriv the current to the elem-rode is easier than Where the flux coating is insulating in character.

I Furthermore. in he present process. when the wire is red from or: coil or reel with a m. which may be done figures 1 and as f in the arrangement oi Figure all the or has to do is to guide the electrode at the position, and the operator can work with his elbow pressed rigidly against his side, lerwi a is hand free to move steadily and firmly, w! great improvement over trying to me hand and elbow to keep a straight clcctrod with the work; this greatly reduces he or iatigue. Where the electrode is is t by a motor,-as may be done in the of Figures 1 and 3, rubber rollers 21 in engagement with the coated electric While I have illustrated an alternating 'cuw rent transformer of the type shown in my Patent 1,305,363 as the source of welding cum: other satisfactory type oi A. C. welding or a D. C. welding machine maybe used.

From what has been said it will be as a large amount or welding rod or wire is saved or salvaged by the means or process 1 described which diflers from automatic r: welding in that the present means or we must be manually controlled at the are by oil] operator.

What I claim is:

In manual metallic arc-welding, meai'is for saving electrode material which includes a long; length of welding rod or wire on a reel, a portable stand carrying the reel, one terminal or a source oi welding current being connected to the rod wire onthe reel and the other terminal of! said current source being nonnected to the work. means tor guiding the wire in a curvilinear path to the welding operator, said means including a second portable stand and a combined sleeve and cooling chamber held by the stand at an adjustable angle to insure the curvilinear path of 11lovement of the rod or wire, means carried by the second stand for passing cooling fluid to and irom said cooling chamber, and means under control of the welding operator for feeding the rod or wire from the reel as desired at the are.

CLAUDE J. HOLSLAU. 

